


i was always looking up to you

by remi_mae



Category: Super Sentai Series, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationship, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20284045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_mae/pseuds/remi_mae
Summary: In which Youko is six years old, and later seven, hates going to school, and just wants her big brother.or, 4 times Youko gets picked up from school, and 1 time Ryuuji does it.





	i was always looking up to you

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this literal years ago (a little over three years ago, according to the original file at least.) I think it was supposed to be this long thing with Youko and Ryuuji's relationship over the years, or just a whole thing with her as a six year old that expanded on the first bit, but I never finished it. Eventually it became this when I decided I didn't want to just post a drabble with what I had written; considering it started as like, 400 words and I wrote the rest of it in like, a day, I'm pretty pleased with it.
> 
> Generally speaking, my favourite relationships in Sentai and Kamen Rider shows are the familial relationships, and I'm a sucker for cute sibling relationships. In Go-Busters especially, Ryuuji and Youko's relationship is my favourite, and I really wish they'd focused on it a little more at times. I also wish there were more fics focused on the two of them, but hey, if they don't exist, write them yourself, so that's what I'll do! Probably. I gotta rewatch Go-Busters first to refresh my memory lol
> 
> Title is from One Ok Rock's Hard to Love (it seems fitting, I suppose. And I'm terrible at titles.)

1.

It's not something she's particularly proud of - throwing a tantrum and needing to be picked up from school early - but sometimes she can't help it. It's been three years since _that night_, and while her memories of her mother are fading, they're still there. She's pretty sure her mother would be proud of her, sticking up for herself.

She can sort of see why Usada didn't want her to go to a real school though. She likes parts of it, especially her teacher, who happily answers any bug related questions she has for him, but other parts are the worst.

Ryuu-san's not there, for one. Usada isn't either, and sometimes that's good, but most of the time it sucks - especially when she's playing and forgets to eat something and then she crashes, literally, and the other kids laugh at her. She can still hear them taunting her, calling her a parentless weirdo when their teacher's not in the room. Eventually she'd had enough, and punched Sasaki Mina, who hadn't said one nice thing to her since the beginning of the year.

Of course, their teacher came into the room right as her punch landed, and _she_ was the one who got into trouble. When they left the room though, sensei said he was glad she was standing up for herself, but hitting people wasn't the way to deal with it. What other way to deal with it was there? The other kids had been told to leave Youko alone time and time again, but they never did. They never stopped when she asked them to, because if they _had_, she wouldn't have punched Sasaki Mina.

She really just wanted Ryuu-san. Sure, her surrogate big brother would scold her, but then he'd ruffle her hair and play with her until she forgot all about Sasaki Mina and her classmates being meanies.

She knows it's Kuroki who's coming to pick her up, but it doesn't stop her from being disappointed when Ryuu-san's not with him. She sulks the entire way back to base, until Kuroki gives up and says that it's only an hour until Ryuuji gets out of school for the day, and that if he agrees, they can go out for ice cream, to cheer her up.

(She doesn't notice the fond little smile Kuroki gets when she beams at the mention of ice cream with her big brother.)

2.

They've never had a substitute teacher before, and if it's going to be anything like this every time, Youko hopes they never have one again.

As it is, Youko already hates that she's considered a "special needs" student, in a lot of ways, because it makes her different from the other kids, gives them something to tease her about - and they definitely tease her about it. None of the teachers know the truth about what happened, because they can't be told - what if one of them tells someone else, and it got out? It would cause a panic. Youko's six years old and she knows that. She gets _why_ they have to explain things to people outside of the EMC differently, but she doesn't like how some of the teachers look at her like she's going to explode or something.

She's not _fragile_. She's a six year old who lost her mother, not a bomb.

That's not even the worst part, no. The worst part is because her reaction to the vaccine program means she uses a lot more energy than most people, she's constantly having to snack. And that should be fine, more or less - she's prone to forgetting until she's out of energy and she has to struggle to get something out of her pocket, or someone has to help her, which is _embarrassing_, but it's not something they have any control over. Her teachers know she has to be allowed to snack when she feels she needs to, and while a couple of the kids in her class tried to pitch a fit, the way she'd fallen over when one of them stole her snack has alienated her, but kept them from trying to claim favouritism.

Which is where the substitute teacher comes in. Either no one told her, or she just straight up ignored it, and Youko hates her. She knows she's not the only one - after all, it's not just Youko that the teacher is being mean towards. She got mad at Junno for bouncing his knee, like he always does, and got mad at Hyemi for saying a sentence incorrectly when she'd been called on to answer something, even though Japanese isn't her first language. The teacher seems to hate them all as much as they hate her, and Youko has to wonder why she became a teacher if she didn't like kids.

It almost doesn't surprise her when, at some point between breaks, Youko pulls out a small chocolate bar just for it to be taken out of her hand before she can start unwrapping it.

"Snacks aren't allowed in class!" The teachers voice is high pitched and annoying enough from across the room; from right next to her, it makes Youko wince. She can hear a few of her classmates whispering, and it makes Youko frown - more so when she hears what they're saying.

"But Youko-chan's allowed to have snacks...?" and "did no one tell this sensei Usami's allowed snacks?" It makes her feel a little better about her classmates, that they aren't immediately jumping to being happy the teachers calling her out. Sasaki Mina's probably happy, but no one in their class really likes Sasaki Mina anymore, because she thinks she's better than everyone.

"I have to have snacks though." Youko says, not backing down when the teacher glares daggers at her.

"Ah, really?" Youko wants to whine and stomp her feet, because all of the other teachers know, why doesn't this one? "And why is that?"

"Medical reasons." Kuroki had told Youko they'd explained it to the school as if she had diabetes, that if anyone gave her a hard time about it, just say it was for medical reasons. It's not _wrong_, it's just not entirely right either.

The teacher clearly doesn't believe her, so when she starts to walk away, Youko stands up, pushing her chair back and not so quietly stomping towards the door of the classroom.

It takes a few seconds before the teacher acknowledges her. "And where are you going?" Youko doesn't even look back as she pushes the door open.

"The office." She says, pausing only for a moment, "Sensei's not doing her job properly."

She makes it halfway to the office when she feels the telltale grumble of her stomach that lets her know she really, really should have eaten something. She lets out a cry as her legs give out, and she has just enough energy to catch herself so her face doesn't bounce off the floor. She hears a door open somewhere, and a couple of footsteps, before a sigh.

"Youko-chan." She winces, trying to look up.

"It's not my fault sensei!" She knows she's whining, but she's hungry, and tired, and she just wants to go home.

"Uh huh," the other teacher helps Youko up, before handing over an already opened snack sized chocolate bar. Youko finishes it quickly and can practically feel her battery being recharged. It's not much, but it'll do for now. "What happened?"

"We have a different teacher today. She took my chocolate. She's mean to everyone, sensei!" The other teacher frowns, before shaking his head a little. "You go down to the office. I suspect you want to go home?" Youko nods quickly. The teacher pats her head. "I'll talk to the substitute, and bring your things down in a little bit." She nods, and trudges on towards the office, trying not to feel happy about the fact that the mean teacher will probably get told off.

(The fact that Kuroki demands to speak to the teacher makes the day a little better, because even if she's not in the room, she can hear him tearing into the teacher. Usada comes with this time, which is rare - Usada and Gorisaki both tend to stay at the EMC while she and Ryuu-san are at school, so not to draw too attention - and doesn't even scold Youko. She feels like he wants to, but given that it's not her fault for once, he doesn't.)

"Youko?" She looks up from her feet, nibbling on another chocolate bar as they leave the school. Usada's face can't change, but Youko likes to pretend it does, sometimes. Right now she imagines he's looking at her with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out if she's okay.

"I'm okay." Youko assures, answering the unasked question. "Can we watch a movie with Ryuu-san when he gets out of school?" Usada lets out a little huff that half sounds like a laugh and half sounds annoyed.

"Why wait for him? We can watch one together." Youko laughs a little, and she misses the way Kuroki looks over, clearly relieved to see she's not too upset.

"But it's more fun to watch movies with Ryuu-san!" is her only argument, because she's not quite how to say that as much as she loves Usada, he's good at distracting her, while Ryuuji's better at helping her relax and calm down when she's had a bad day.

3.

Youko feels _terrible_. She didn't even know it was possible to feel this awful, especially when she felt fine when she'd left for school. Now there's an hour left of school, and Youko's laying in the nurses office, trying not to shiver as she waits for someone who isn't Kuroki to pick her up. She knows it's not Kuroki without having to be told, because he had meetings all day - he hadn't been able to take her to school like he normally did, instead having Hirai-san, one of the EMC workers that Youko likes best, drop her off and promise to be the one to pick her up at the end of the day too. The problem is, it's not actually the end of the day, so she doesn't know if it's Hirai-san coming to get her, or if they'll have to send someone else.

She knows it will be someone she knows, because that's an entire thing they have. If Kuroki can't come pick her up, he doesn't send just anyone. It's always someone Youko knows, and if she doesn't know them, she doesn't have to go with them.

Honestly, at this point in time, she doesn't even _care_ who picks her up, even though she'd prefer it being Hirai-san or Kuroki. She has a fever so she feels like she's freezing, and if she could, she'd just fall asleep until whoever is coming to get her gets there, but as much as she's trying, she can't seem to nod off. The nurse had said something about it being a little bit before someone would be there, she thinks. Youko was only half listening, but at least she has the excuse of being sick.

Eventually the door of the nurses office opens and there's the soft tap of shoes on the floor. Youko forces her eyes open (when did she close them?) and tries to get them to focus on the person who came into the room. They're currently talking with the nurse, and she struggles to sit up when the nurse points in her direction.

"Hirai-san?" Her voice sounds scratchy, and she grimaces a little at it. The person walks closer, Youko's eyes finally focusing, and she can see Hirai-san giving her a soft smile.

"How are you feeling, Youko-chan?" She thinks her appearance probably speaks for itself, if she looks half as bad as she feels, so she settles for just making a face. Hirai-san seems to get the point, and laughs a little. "That's fair. I would have been here a little sooner, but Kuroki asked me to pick up some medicine for you, and I figured you'd want to go straight home." She thought right, and Youko would say so, if it didn't hurt to speak. She nods a little instead.

She doesn't even make it all the way to the door before Hirai-san's asking if she wants to be carried instead. Youko doesn't want to be treated like a baby, but she also feels like she could fall over at any time. So, she pouts, but nods again, and doesn't struggle when Hirai-san picks her up, thanks the nurse, and makes her way out of the building. She shivers when they leave the school, and Hirai-san doesn't miss a beat, just holds her a little closer. She's just rambling, and Youko thinks she's trying to help her fall asleep or something. If she is, it's working, and Youko's asleep before they even reach the car.

4.

It's the last day before winter break, and Youko absolutely does _not_ want to be at school. In fact, she would very much like to be anywhere _but_ school.

Normally she doesn't really like school, but she can deal with it. Right now though, everyone's talking about what they're going to do over the holidays, and about Christmas, and Youko's trying so hard to not listen to anything they're saying. She knows they're not doing it on purpose, because it's not like anyone in her class knows that Christmas is a hard time for her.

She still doesn't have many friends, but she's getting along with the other kids more. She thinks it helps that Sasaki Mina's family moved, so she doesn't go to school with them anymore. The friends she does have still don't know much about her though. They know she had a mum, but doesn't anymore, and she lives with her "uncle" Kuroki, who worked with her mum. Her friends all know she adores Ryuuji as well, because whenever siblings come up, at all, she'll go on and on about how her big brother is so smart and strong, and it doesn't matter that they're not really siblings, he's _her_ big brother. None of them have ever met him though, because her school gets out before his does, so he can't come pick her up with Kuroki, or whoever is picking her up that day. She's pretty sure some of them think she's making him up.

Today she doesn't really want to talk about family though, even though her friends are happily going on about theirs. They seem to pick up on that, leaving her to sit at her desk and doodle on a piece of paper instead of trying to include her in the conversation. She's glad, for once. She doesn't want to try and explain that she lost her mum at Christmas, and that they're going to have a small Christmas party at the EMC, but that it's not really going to be a party so much as it will be a memorial of sorts.

While she's doodling, her teacher must notice that she's keeping to herself, and comes over. Youko looks up, but then goes back to drawing. She's not very good, but Ryuu-san always seems to like it when she shows him the things she's drawn. The teacher doesn't say anything for a minute, seemingly just wanting to see what Youko's drawing. It's her, Usada, Ryuu-san, Gorisaki and Kuroki around a Christmas tree. If her teacher finds the robotic rabbit and gorilla odd, he doesn't say anything.

"That your family?" He asks, when Youko pauses to see if there's anything else she should add. She looks up, and then back at her drawing and nods, pointing out who's who.

"Me, and Uncle Kuroki, and Ryuu-san. He's my big brother." She pauses a moment, before pointing at Usada and Gorisaki as well. "Usada's a bunny and Gorisaki's a gorilla. They're robots." Well, Buddyroids. _She_ knows the difference, because most robots don't have personalities, and they _definitely_ don't scold her for not doing her homework or forgetting a snack. She doesn't think her teacher would know the difference though.

Watching her teacher, he looks like he's going to say something, but then doesn't. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd wanted to ask about her parents, but the teachers... kind of know. They know she's never known her father, and that her mum is gone.

"It's a very nice drawing." Her teacher says in the end, and Youko beams at the praise.

"I'm going to give it to Ryuu-san when he gets back!" She says happily, and her teacher tilts his head a little in confusion. "He's staying with his parents for a couple of days, but he'll be back in, uh... two more days." She nods, thinking back to what he'd said, when she'd whined about him being gone for a few days. They see each other every day, but she understands him going to see his parents for a few days. He'll be back before Christmas though, so she doesn't have to spend it with just Kuroki, who is _nice_, but also very strict. She'd much rather spend the holidays with Ryuu-san. He even told her she could pick the cake they got!

Her teacher smiles, and she's not really sure why, but she smiles back. She finishes her drawing by signing her name, nodding once to herself as she gives it a final look over. Then sensei is telling them all to clean up and get their things, and when they're let out of the school, she practically bouncing as she looks around to find Kuroki. If he seems confused by her happy mood (she _was_ whining about not wanting to go to school all morning,) he doesn't say anything, just makes sure she's in the car and settled before getting in himself.

"Have a good day?" He asks, while they're heading back to the EMC base. Youko nods, holding her drawing in her hands. She wants to show him, honestly, but she also wants to make another - then she can give one to both Ryuu-san _and_ Kuroki, but the drawing has to stay a surprise until then.

"It was good." She says, turning the picture over and looking out the window. Kuroki smiles, glancing at her in the rear view mirror.

"I'm happy."

+1.

Although Youko would say she still hates school, she hates it less than she did at the beginning of the year. She has a couple of closer friends now, even though she doesn't really get to see them outside of school. For the most part, they're all talking about doing things while they're out on break, trying to bring Youko into the conversation, but she knows she won't have time. She's only seven now, but she's _seven_ now. They don't know when Vaglass could attack, and they have to be prepared.

Plus she overheard Kuroki talking, and she's going to start doing more training. They have her doing some stuff now, but it's mostly just running around, more like an extra gym class, doing things to try and build up her stamina, which she's fine with. It's fun, even, but she's excited to get to do more. Ryuu-san's already allowed to do a lot more things, but he is older than her, and bigger, so that makes sense. She gets to do more now, and they're going to start over the break, before the new school year starts.

She's excited about it, even if he hasn't technically told her about it yet. Usada hinted at it, so she's clearly allowed to have _some_ idea about it... or Usada thought it would go over her head. But probably she's allowed to know, even if unofficially.

"Youko-chan~" She looks up at her name, not having realized she was zoning out. Her friends are smiling at her, Kokoro questioningly, while Rise just bounces over and drags her towards them. "What are you doing over break?" Ah. Right, that.

"Hm, not much?" She tilts her head, wondering how much she's really allowed to say. "Probably just spending time with Ryuu-niisan. Uncle Kuroki too." It's not a lie, she's just not telling them what she'll actually be doing. She doesn't think they'll believe her even if she said, but no point having them laugh at her. As it is, they don't really seem to believe Ryuuji exists. She talks about him all the time, but they've never seen him, so she... kind of understands why they don't really believe her. It doesn't hurt that because he's not her brother biologically (or even legally) it would be very easy to make him up, but she's not!

"Ah! Are we going to get to meet your niisan?" Rise asks, while Kokoro and Mao just giggle. Rise believes her, probably because she has an older sister that's away at university whom none of them have met, but Kokoro and Mao think she's just trying to make herself sound... cool, or something? She's not really sure what they think she'd get out of lying about an older brother.

"Oh, um... we'll probably be busy?" It comes out more like a question, mostly because she's not really sure herself. It's not like she could really invite her friends over anyway, even if she wanted to. Kuroki would say no, for one, and and even if he wanted to say yes, they live at the EMC base, not in a house or apartment. She can't invite people to the EMC base.

"Youko-chan~ It's like you don't want us to meet them," Mao pouts, and Youko shakes her head quickly.

"It's not that!" She pauses, tilting her head to the side. "It's, um... Uncle Kuroki is busy a lot, so you can't really come over, and Ryuu-niisan promised we'd do a bunch of stuff before school starts again, so we'll be really busy too." Again, not a lie, just not the whole truth. She doesn't really like lying to her friends, but she can't tell them the truth, even if they won't believe her.

That said, all three of them, including Rise, don't really look like they believe her. Or they think she's just making up excuses. "I can... I can see if Ryuu-niisan can take us to a movie or something? Maybe?" That would be fun, honestly. She wanted to see if her and Ryuu-san would be able to go see a movie at some point anyway, or just hang out, the two of them. And well... hanging out with her friends outside of school _would_ be really fun too.

"Oh! That'd be fun!" Rise bounces a little, grinning. Kokoro and Mao seem pleased with the idea too, which prompts Youko to grin, relieved. She'll just have to ask and hope the answer is yes.

"Youko-chan~"

"Eh?" Her friends all look confused, looking over her shoulder. Youko blinks a moment, before whirling around, smile growing ever bigger.

"Ryuu-san!" She doesn't hear her friends questioning it while she runs the few feet that separates them and all but tackles Ryuuji into a hug. "You're here! Why are you here?" Ryuuji laughs a little, patting her head. He's smiling when she looks up, and she squeezes him a little tighter.

"School got out early today, because it's so close to graduation. I came with Kuroki to pick you up." She pouts a little, because she wasn't told, but smiles again when Ryuuji assures her "I wanted to surprise you."

"I'm surprised. I'm really surprised!" Ryuuji laughs again, ruffling her hair a little, before glancing over at her friends, who are just... staring. Well, since they didn't really seem to believe her, Kokoro and Mao at least, having proof that her brother does in fact exist is probably surprising.

Ryuuji catches on - probably because she whined about them not believing her. "Do you want to introduce me to your friends?" Youko pulls away from him, but still tucks herself into his side, more than happy to see him.

"Rise-chan, Mao-chan and Kokoro-chan. This is my Ryuu-niisan." She beams up at him, before looking at her friends. "I told you he was real!" Ryuuji tries to stifle a laugh, but Youko still hears it. The other girls seem a little embarrassed, probably that she called them out on not believing her, but she didn't mean any harm. Rise doesn't seem to mind, and Mao and Kokoro don't seem hurt by it, so she thinks it's okay.

Rise happily bounces, and gives a little bow. "It's nice to meet you, Youko's Ryuu-niisan." The other two give similar greetings, and it's obvious that Ryuuji's rather amused by the girls. He ruffles Youko's hair once more, returning the greeting to her friends, before letting his hand rest on her shoulder.

"You don't mind if I steal Youko-chan away early, do you?" He then looks down at her, smiling softly, "I convinced Kuroki to let us get ice cream before we head home."

Youku bounces in place, practically vibrating with how quickly she tries to say goodbye to her friends. "I'll see if we can hang out soon, 'kay?" is pretty much all she says before trying to drag a laughing Ryuuji off. "See you guys!"

She doesn't slow until she can see Kuroki standing next to the car, not quite impatient, but clearly ignoring the other parents and family members milling around, more than ready to leave. When she stops, she rounds on Ryuuji and gives him another hug.

"Thank you for coming," she mumbles, ducking her head a little when she steps back. Ryuuji looks a little confused, but smiles nonetheless.

She thinks he gets it, even if he's not in the same situation, not really. Everyone else has family coming to pick them up, and while Kuroki worked with her mum, has always sort of been an honourary uncle, it's not quite the same. She not close with him in the same way she is Ryuuji, who's become her big brother, became her rock when she lost what amounts to everything. It wouldn't be the same without him around, and she thinks he gets that.

He doesn't say any of that though, and instead just pats her head again and smiles. "Your welcome," he says, "come on. Let's go before Kuroki changes his mind about ice cream."


End file.
